Castello di Leonina Relais

So it is a great location, with incredible views and quiet too. Staff are attentive and this starts with warm welcome by Roxanna. Breakfast is solid start to day & no complaints. Not able to have dinner as Rotary Cult were in. So room was ok, bathroom is dated and tired, hence score. I really wanted to like this place, but over our visit this had poorest bathroom of the three hotels.

The hotel advertises itself to be a place for a "luxurious vacation." Our experience was unfortunately far from that, and the first night was the worst we've ever experienced and we paid 260€ for it! We booked a classic double room "with a view of the charming Tuscan countryside." Our room (Bruco) wasn‘t located in the castello itself, which isn’t mentioned on their website, but a different house across the street (pic 1) and that there may not be any view at all (pic 2). When entering the souterrain room we were welcomed with a mouldy odor (mould and high humidity were confirmed by the cleaning staff). The room and especially the bathroom are in dire need of a complete renovation (pics 3-7)! When letting the receptionist know that we didn’t want to stay in a potentially health hazardous room we were only met with total ignorance and rudeness and were told that we were the first guests complaining about mould (we were definitely not the first checking booking.com and Google reviews) and that every room was beautiful and in perfect condition. We asked whether a cancellation would be possible under those circumstances and were being told that only half of the total amount (250€) would be refunded. They could only offer to upgrade us to another room the next day. Not willing to lose 250€ and due to lack of other options on such a short notice we decided to stay. The junior suit we received the next day was sufficient and offered a good price-performance ratio. The breakfast was good and even offered vegan cakes and croissants. Staff, apart from that one receptionist and some rather unmotivated service personell was nice, friendly and helpful. The pool area and terrace offer a stunning view of the Tuscan countryside. All in all this stay has been a total disappointment and was definitely not worth the price we paid!

Based on our experience, we unfortunately don’t have many good things to say about the Castello Di Leonina. We had booked the classic room which was 250€ per night on average, which I consider a rather steep price. However, there were several major problems with our room called "Bruco": 1) the room was located in a separate building across the street, not in the castle 2) it was a souterrain room with no view at all (despite advertised differently) and slightly claustrophobic 3) wifi didn’t work in the room 4) this is by far the worst one: humidity in the room was super high and there was a strong smell of mold and several moldy stains on the walls, especially in the bathroom. Being souterrain without any mosquito nets it was not possible to sleep with the windows open to at least try to get some fresh air - definitely not the room you'd want to sleep in, especially not for that price and with the expectation of staying in a romantic castle in Tuscany. The whole building (which was tiny anyway) was heavily air conditioned - probably an attempt to suppress the smell. Of course, there is always the WHAT and the HOW, and a lot can be turned around when handled with the right care. The situation with our room wasn’t handled professionally unfortunately - when we complained about the room, we were offered an upgrade after the first night, or a cancellation with the possibility of an unspecified refund which they would only be able to specify after the weekend. Based on that they wanted us to take a decision and when we argued that an unguaranteed refund was a high risk for us as customers, the lady at the reception desk took an arrogant attitude and told us something along the lines of „we are a reputable hotel“ and this is why we should „trust them that they will find the best solution for the refund“. Furthermore she said that "all our rooms are beautiful", so we weren't really fond of an upgrade. However, the refund, as another staff member kindly checked out in the meantime, would have been 50%, although they had offered us an unbearable room. Thank you, but no thank you. Despite our anger, we took the option of an upgrade after the first (horrible) night to the junior suite which was a decent room, but I still wouldn't recommend it from a value for money point of view. Generally speaking, service varied a lot between the individual staff members. I would like to highlight that some staff members were very professional, friendly and helpful, while others were not and some behavior was definitely unprofessional and/or not what I expect for such a facility. Be aware that when you book the classic room, you might end up in the room I am talking about here.